258 : Taurin Bellavance – Selling on Amazon can afford you the opportunity to just walk away (and sometimes you just need to walk away!)
How true the title of this episode is for many people in corporate America today. The “24hr 7 day a week” responsibility is taking an affect on people. They can’t turn off their cell phones but yet struggle to get a raise. They are lucky they have a job after all! Well Taurin is an early adopter of what is coming. There is a tidal wave of people saying “PASS”! Waling away is always an option. Just ask Taurin.
Mentioned:
Sponsors:
Gaye’s Million Dollar Arbitrage List
Transcript: (note- this is a new tool I am trying out so it is not perfect- it does seem to be getting better)
Stephen: [00:00:00] They want to jump in here and just bring back up episode 250 Toys for Tots campaign put together by or lambs. It is such a great opportunity. I was with the seller on Friday. Their team is working on it. I’m very very excited. This is a chance for you to use the skills that you personally have developed.
Stephen: [00:00:21] You’ve got sourcing muscles. Not many other people have it and this is a chance where we can take and use our skills to help those less fortunate. All the information is on episode 250 such a great cause. Kip back. Give back give back. This time of year. Thanks Offut because I shared a blocked one wasn’t paying attention. So please do me tell you by couple sponsors in scope from Sellar labs. If you’re not using it to even just to take your wholesale accounts of course you’ve got to use it for private label right. You need to understand the keyword you want to understand a keyword. Go look at your competitors get their keywords and then use them. That smart business right because they already have proven that proof of concept. But take the same approach to your wholesale accounts. Make sure that those keywords are in there.
Stephen: [00:01:07] If not upload those changes many times you can but many times you can take advantage scoped from seller labs. Go to Celebes dot com slash scope use the code word momentum save a few bucks get a few keywords get your listings found. Got to find that keyword and scope will be the product that will help you. Their solutions for e-commerce. Karen laager you know again you hear me talk about her because she is my account manager she’s been doing a great job. Again I had some stranded listings and I notice them down there on the bottom right hand corner they’re gone. I look back and they’re gone and I see stuff submitted. I see stuff return. It’s such a great process because I don’t have to pay attention. I can pay attention the other parts of our business solutions for e-commerce slash momentum will save you 50 bucks.
Stephen: [00:01:54] Lowest Price she offers. And you still get the inventory Health Report. Take a look at a setup for 2008. Now tell Karen I sent you. When you think about Q4 lists and I hope you don’t use them just Q4 I hope you use them all year long again. You want to learn how to fish right. And so the best thing to do when you’re buying the list is look at what they’re doing and how they’re doing it and then figure that out on your own. That’s the approach that Gala’s B uses in a million dollar arbitrage list. It is closed for the rest of this year. However I have asked them and they have said they would do it if there’s an opening they will pull from the wait list.
Stephen: [00:02:33] OK so I have the link out on my site. On this episode that will have a link that will take you right onto the wait list. So get on the wait list if there’s something that you’re interested members you’re going to give you a seven day free trial. So there’s nothing to lose but once you get in there take advantage. Learn how to fish right sharpen your tool sharpen your skills I guess is the right phrase I should use. OK so again I have that link out on this episode. So jump out there and get on that list you know Go Daddy and Grasshopper are both national sponsors of the show. I’m very fortunate. I have a third one coming on in February. Very excited about that. But go daddy. I use them with somebody who had a great idea for and for a domain and I’m like.
Stephen: [00:03:19] Use my link save 30 percent 30 percent Yes they pay me. We all know that. However 30 percent is real. I use it myself because I want to save the 30 percent. So it’s try Go Daddy dot com slash momentum right try Go Daddy dot com slash momentum and you’re going to save 30 percent grasshopper’s the same deal. Try grasshopper dot com slash momentum and you’re gonna save 50 bucks. I saw somebody else just signed up for it. The service makes you a professional. All of a sudden your business has a phone number has a vanity phone number you can kind of create your own one if it’s available but you don’t need a second phone. And I think that’s the big thing it’s not Google Voice which is choppy sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t.
Stephen: [00:04:01] This is professional stuff. Press 1 for customer service press 2 for my Amazon account manager which we go to Karen’s team I mean this is a great opportunity. So it’s try grasshopper dot com slash momentum save 50 bucks.
Cool voice guy: [00:04:16] Welcome to the e-commerce momentum blog where we focus on the people the products and the process of being e-commerce selling today. Here is your host Stephen Peters then welcome back to the e-commerce momentum podcast.
Stephen: [00:04:32] This is episode 258 Tauren relevance. What a great story. Torin has. I just appreciate I appreciate the choices. I think everybody has to make choices in their lives and I get so inspired when I see a young guy who makes really good choices for his life for his family for everyone. That’s the key. And I hope that I well I guess I can say that I’m seeing more and more people do it and this unbelievable business of Amazon and e-commerce and eBay and Mirch or Amazon and Etsy and I just saw somebody else killed it with that. This is allowing us it’s allowing the ordinary guy to break free and start a business without having to go. Millions of dollars in debt without having to go get financing without having to go get underwritten and go and beg and plead and get rejected.
Stephen: [00:05:27] You don’t want to do that and towards a great example of what can be. Now I understand he was almost forced but he played his cards. It wasn’t like he I mean he had the choice. That’s the key. You all have a choice. So get there. And he explains how he does that. Let’s get into the podcast. All
Stephen: [00:05:47] right welcome back to the conversation in a podcast very excited about today’s guest as he is an example of life changing outside of your control and then making choices based on it. And I think that’s such a powerful thing for a young guy and he’s young relative to me. Think I have a son older than him and I just think that the perspective that Toren introduced toward Bell events offers I think is so important for everyone today. So welcome Tauran.
Taurin: [00:06:20] Hey Stephen how are you man. I’m good yeah. You are good aren’t you. I’m all right.
Stephen: [00:06:27] That’s a pretty cool thing to say because last time you and I chatted which I think we were in Providence wasn’t it. No
Stephen: [00:06:33] we were in Denver. Oh my God this is how crazy my life is. I have no clue where I am. I mean literally you know I think I have three Vegas trips already booked for this coming. It’s crazy.
Stephen: [00:06:43] OK so we were in Denver and we were talking about I guess it’s just a kind of a crazy situation you were in. Right I mean you think about today companies today. It’s so hard to find talent. Right. I mean the unemployment rate is so low. So when you find talent you have to do everything to hold on them. Right I mean it’s just so challenging to keep good people and yet you were working for kind of an unusual company is that fair.
Taurin: [00:07:15] Yeah that’s a pretty nice way of saying a little polite know.
Taurin: [00:07:21] Yes. So I was working in electronics recycling and yes at resale for would be seven years I think today. But I left a couple of months ago and very small company. I was there pretty much from the inception and were kind of like a family. So it was a sad end but it was a choice that at a point I knew that I had to make things got a little rough and well just say it wasn’t once. It wasn’t what it what it once was and it became sort of a negative place to work. And I really didn’t need that in my life especially after you know selling on Amazon for three years and having established myself there I didn’t need the income either. So I made the choice and I do not regret for a second.
Stephen: [00:08:21] You know it’s funny when you get into that position where you have I don’t want to it’s not PC to say but kind of a few months right. I mean it’s you have a plan. Let’s say the professional way. You don’t have a plan. I mean first off how many of your friends have a side hustle that generate the kind of revenue you were generating right. How many of them have a true plan in their life. In my life very very few. Now generationally your generation is more likely to have than mine. But in thinking about your circle of friends how many of them have a real plan in case so they could walk away.
Taurin: [00:09:00] I think I’ve got more friends with no plan than I do with a plant.
Stephen: [00:09:04] Really. They’re just running in circles.
Speaker 11: [00:09:07] Yeah I mean either you know not focused on a career or not in a career at all and just kind of meandering through life flow. Yeah.
Taurin: [00:09:21] I mean I mean I got I’ve got friends sell on Amazon but a lot of them that’s their that’s their plan. They don’t have a job or they left their job long ago. It’s a nice comfortable place to be and I think that’s why I had such a problem leaving was because I had grown very accustomed to the two incomes and that felt like a very safe place to be because I knew that regardless of what happened to one I would still have the other.
Stephen: [00:09:50] It is very very real. What you’re describing because I walked away from a very large paying job and so now you you pull back and it’s like I could take chances. I didn’t have to worry about it. Now I have to be a little more thoughtful and mindful. But guess what. That’s not a bad thing because you make better choice. You know I would put words in my mouth for you is making better choices. So because airfare for you too.
Taurin: [00:10:19] Yeah and I mean I’m sure we’ll get into this. But the thing that really launched me into a side hustle and got me focused intent was Dave Ramsey. We went through we were married four years ago and somebody gifted us Steve Ramsey’s Financial Peace University kit and I took the class and I realized that my beautiful young bride came with a price tag of about 80000 dollars and the former student loans and a car loan.
Speaker 12: [00:10:49] That’s like a dowry that you’ve got to pay your reverse dowry. Hey that’s fair.
Taurin: [00:10:57] Yeah. Now we put all those numbers together sitting at the coffee table. I will never forget that feeling that weight on my shoulders. You know that Tingley mouth anxiety sensation that hit hard.
Stephen: [00:11:12] And what did you do for your relationship though. I mean because that’s important. I think that’s really important.
Taurin: [00:11:17] You did you know this going in well I had never really considered it. My parents paid for school. I was very fortunate there. And I had I took out one loan. My mom said if I wanted to study abroad for a semester I would have to pay for that. I took it out and it was it was a short trip it was about a month in Costa Rica which was awesome. And it was a small loan. And I remember making the pump monthly payments and there were there are tiny. It wasn’t a big loan but I just wanted that out of my life and I just one month I decided to save up and just pay it off and that’s what I did. And I guess I never really considered how big the student loans could be.
Stephen: [00:12:05] 80 grands a lot of money did and they put it on like a 30 year amortization. So you’re paying it like you’re paying your house.
Taurin: [00:12:13] The biggest one was nine point six percent to McCosh. Was even the minimum the minimum. So I think we’re over a grand a month. We started out.
Stephen: [00:12:24] And how does a small how does a young family starting out really get anywhere when you’re sitting on those kind of payments. Well let me ask you this if you’re maybe maybe because you’re your college was paid for. Is it kind of an absolute going forward if you have kids and you know I’m putting this way out there and to think about it logically is this one of those things that you’re doing to hopefully tell them absolutely no student loans there’s a way to pay for it. Let’s figure it out together whatever it takes.
Taurin: [00:12:55] Yeah I mean that starts now with 529 saving for their college and then hopefully giving them enough. And just you know pushing them sort of in the direction of a state school or something to that regard just to achieve perform education that the more expensive schools really don’t offer anything that the state schools and community colleges don’t.
Stephen: [00:13:21] Well I agree. Unless it’s a you know a lead into you know Harvard and MIT or what are those. I absolutely agree. Right
Taurin: [00:13:29] . And even still I mean I my my major oddly enough was entrepreneurship and it was really just because I wanted to general business degree and it seemed cool. And only recently have I become begun to realize I do have an entrepreneurial bent to me. But I mean had I known what my trajectory looked like ahead of time I wouldn’t have gone to college because I feel like I must are going to be a doctor or a lawyer or something very specific I learn on YouTube I learn from books. I teach myself whatever I’m focused on and intent on learning. I’m a rabid consumer of information so I’m going to learn a lot more on my own than I will in a classroom setting that’s just me personally but it’s something you’re interested in. You’re
Stephen: [00:14:15] going to give it your all right I mean just listen to somebody talk about Montessori where they basically kind of say hey here are these all options over here. You know you kind of figure out which ones you like and then in theory the kids who are artists or businesspeople they gravitate towards what they like.
Speaker 13: [00:14:32] And all of a sudden they get enthusiastic and there’s a passion that help they helped fuel that model. Now for college forget who it was who I know Gary Vee’s involved in it. There
Stephen: [00:14:44] is a group of them the guy from pencils for promise. They were putting Adam I can’t think of his last name. They were putting together some type of education because like Google for example does not require a four year degree anymore because they realize what you’re saying is that most of that is nonsense. They need you to be able to code or whatever it is that they need. But however there are certain skill sets they want you to have. And so they have this college where you can actually go for free and then you agree to pay back like 15 grand a year for three years or some story and then you help fund other kids to go for free. Right. But the premises is that you’re going to learn the tools that are needed to work at Google or Facebook or in your media or whatever. Right. I mean wouldn’t that. I mean think back to your degree did that biology class help you today. Running your Amazon business.
Speaker 12: [00:15:32] I use my biology knowledge every day that’s getting up to go to the bathroom and all that kind of stuff. But I’m talking about in business you know unless you know unless you’re selling in the one category.
Stephen: [00:15:44] But it’s just interesting. Now you know in fairness learning social skills that’s important. Right. I mean learning how to deal with people because that’s one of the challenges I see people don’t know how to you know as an employer bringing in people and they didn’t. They were coddled by their mom or whatever you know they don’t know how to handle challenges right. So those are things that you want to learn. But I’m not sure it needs to be sitting in a biology class to learn. It would be cooler if it was sitting in a hey here’s how to read financial statements or here’s how to do it. You know here’s how to present to a bank you know or whatever that kind of thing you agree.
Taurin: [00:16:19] Yeah absolutely. I think I learned more about. Social skills once I got into the job market and started you know making phone calls and meeting with customers and stuff like that. I don’t know that it took place in college for me honestly.
Speaker 13: [00:16:38] Yeah I don’t know. You know I think back now I went to business school and say this is in business school they taught you how and I’m older so you know I understand that but literally they set up a dinner you know to wear a suit and tie to every every class. And
Stephen: [00:16:55] and you had to wear them for presentations all that jazz.
Stephen: [00:16:58] But they set up a dinner and they showed you what they taught you how to eat and have dinner conversation and I stuck with me and it’s like one of those cool things because that’s something that you a lot of people wouldn’t have learned back in my day and now going out you know as it’s business right. It’s good to have those skills. Those are real life skills. But you know reading it in a book you know doesn’t really help you right or you know talking to some guy up there talking to 200 people in a classroom saying well you know Taryn here’s how you eat when you’re there and blah blah blah blah blah. You’re not going to get anything from that.
Speaker 11: [00:17:39] No.
Stephen: [00:17:41] So OK. So you are you’re you have a degree what you degree just in entrepreneurship.
Taurin: [00:17:48] Yes. So I would do a business school as well and I couldn’t really hone in on a major that I was interested in at the time. And so entrepreneurship seemed like a good one either.
Stephen: [00:17:59] Neither parent were entrepreneur or grandparent or something that kind of sparked that.
Taurin: [00:18:03] I know they were my father’s a builder and she was I think 19. And my grandfather he’s had a whole host of businesses actually if you go on eBay now and search my last name you’ll see our watchband from their watchband factory. I’m from North Attleboro Massachusetts and it was a massive jewelry hub back in the day. So they had a watchband factory like sort of concession stand thing. He flipped a lot of real estate. I don’t know if he ever really had a job working for anybody else and he was a big role model for me growing up.
Stephen: [00:18:46] They encourage them. Or was it just understood that you really want to go out and make your own way.
Taurin: [00:18:55] Yeah I kind of always had a pull towards that I think. I don’t know if I really recognized that I was. So I’m an only child of a single mom so I was coddled a bit when I was at home. I didn’t really like my mom didn’t really push me hard to get a job so I didn’t work when I was in high school and I didn’t have really many bills to pay and so I didn’t feel I didn’t really understand the value of a dollar and what I didn’t feel that need to go out and make money. I wanted to make money but I didn’t it wasn’t real to me you know. And so it wasn’t until I was on my own that I was working and I was paying rent and stuff that I really became interested in increasing my income and saving money and investing. Did
Stephen: [00:19:47] the lessons though I’ve seen you know and I don’t know how how early your parents split. But did you see your father struggle in the building business. The the the highs and the lows because the right now was an Amazon seller Q4 right. So guess what. You’re flying in or your hate in your life right because of high sales or no sales. Right. It’s never never an average day. It’s one of the other extremes right. That might be by the hour. Did you recognize that with your dad at all.
Speaker 11: [00:20:20] I didn’t I didn’t honestly see him very much when I was younger. But I mean they they were hit hard in 2008. I know that that didn’t turn you away.
Stephen: [00:20:34] I mean that’s a good thing. That’s the fact that if you can push through that that’s resilience right. I mean that’s a good skill set to have resilience especially in this world. Yeah
Taurin: [00:20:44] it really it just helped frame the mindset I have now that the whole day. Like I said I’m a big Dave Ramsey follower and it’s just being risk averse. So I don’t mean that in the sense that I’m not willing to pull the trigger on a deal or go deep on a product right. There’s no reward without some risk. But I won’t take a loan or use credit cards to do it.
Stephen: [00:21:12] OK. So it’s calculated. Yes absolutely. So
Stephen: [00:21:15] there is a limit though that means you’re limited on your growth opportunities right if you’re not borrowing money.
Taurin: [00:21:22] Yeah that’s true. But I mean I’m doing just fine. And I I just so you know my numbers and my margins are good.
Stephen: [00:21:36] You’re way you’re approaching mega mega seller status.
Taurin: [00:21:42] Yeah. You always say mega seller and I had never known exactly where that it moves it was depending on my mood.
Stephen: [00:21:49] But you know I mean I always figured this is my number I use and I always assume and this is Steve assuming and I know I’m wrong and all the reasons blah blah blah. However I believe that if you pay taxes and if you have insurance and you do all the things that you’re supposed to do you’re going to end up around 17 to 20 percent margin after every day especially if you have a warehouse and you have people helping you. Blah blah blah blah blah. And so you know look at it you were working backwards. I can do that math and takes me six seconds just to read the number and do the math and say he’s doing OK. Pretty OK. Very quickly very soon because you hit that level. You’re close to hitting that level where all of a sudden you have more money than time. Right. I mean you’re getting to that place especially since you’re financing it yourself. You you’re getting close.
Stephen: [00:22:42] Yes. Which is clean.
Taurin: [00:22:46] Yeah it is cool. And at the same time I mean we’re in the world of e-commerce rates this rapidly shifting landscape. And anybody who’s been around long enough knows that you can’t grow complacent here. You always hear about the Google algorithm change from years back to these guys building niche sites when they had their income wiped out overnight. Some of them even now you know you’re seeing it in a lot of the groups. Hopefully you’re not feeling it but I’ve seen lately a lot of eBay sellers this Q4 complaining about really bad sales. And if that’s all their business there they’re panicking a little bit. They’re feeling it big time. So I mean I hardly sell anybody. So it makes no difference to me. But it’s a reminder that things can still change quickly. So I try not to live like I’m making the money that I’m making right now because I know that odds are you know five or even two or three years from now without a lot of change and a lot of paying attention to the marketplace.
Taurin: [00:23:46] I might not be making money that I’m making today. We’re blessed today but it’s not guaranteed tomorrow so I pay myself very little and I keep a big cash buffer in my business account. It’s an emergency fund. So if anything did happen tomorrow if I were to lose my business or somebody swooped in and took over my market my sales plummeted to what a quarter they are now. Some freak accident where all my inventory were destroyed. I lost it all. Not on loans. I could still continue to pay myself the same wages for another year without having to stress while I get my footing.
Stephen: [00:24:23] I think it’s very smart. So your phone the real Dave Ramsey plan which is to have that six to 12 months of expenses. Right. But even for your business he gives that advice in business and he says you know if you listen EntreMed leadership right that’s that’s exactly what he said you need to do.
Taurin: [00:24:42] Yeah and I mean it’s it’s not popular advice at all. But for a young guy with a family like me it makes all the sense in the world. I mean I could pay myself three times that I’m paying myself I get a 30 year mortgage on a half million dollar home and fill it with crap from Pottery Barn and finance some new cars and stuff. But Stephen what are the odds of a recession in the next 30 years or a big hit type business right it’s 100 percent going to happen pretty close to it. So who do I want to be when that hit comes I want to be the guy keeping up appearances and the nice finance car and the McMansion with the big mortgage no contingency plan or the guy who has the paid for house he can feed his family and keep the lights on with whatever job is out there available to him. It’s there’s nothing wrong with that. That first guy but I’d just rather sleep at night.
Speaker 13: [00:25:33] As a dad. Oh man I’m proud of you dude. I’m just listening to you and I’m like man he gets it.
Stephen: [00:25:38] I’m on the other end of it where we just we just downsized right because we had that big house and it was just two of us left and it’s like OK what are we going to do with these other three bedrooms. All right these other couple of bathrooms right. My wife was tired of cleaning them. I was tired of cutting the grass. I travel a lot. And so that’s gone. So now we live in this two bedroom. You know I’m going to quote luxury. It’s it’s beautiful brand new apartment. And for the first time in 30 some odd years we do not own a house.
Stephen: [00:26:05] And my wife I probably told this and I apologize if you heard it before but she’s into minimalism and so she’ll literally look at my glass and I’m as I’m holding her she goes Steve does that glass make you happy. And that’s the question because he saw this and she read the book. So now everything has to make me happy so I’m very cautious when I pick up around her because she’s going to ask me because if it doesn’t make me happy it’s going. And literally you know she’s like we get our Christmas stuff out which I storm a warehouse right because we don’t really have storage. And she’s like I’m pairing this down this year and I’m like oh my god we’re really. And she got rid of tonnage.
Stephen: [00:26:42] But to be honest with you that stuff is baggage when you’re downsizing and you’re sitting there trying to make these decisions and you’re looking at all this stuff and you think of what you paid for it and now it’s gone right because we gave it all away. But I mean just thinking about that said what could I have done with that money toward. You know what I mean. And so you’re thinking that way in advance and that is the smart move dude. Smart.
Taurin: [00:27:07] Well that and it’s not it’s not just the money. I mean that clutter is stress without a doubt. And I mean if my little hypocritical I’m saying this because I’m looking around my desk and it’s a mess right now. But I work a lot more effectively with my desk is clean when I don’t have a ton of crap everywhere to focus on. And I can just you know hone in on what it is I’m doing.
Stephen: [00:27:31] I’ve been down to speaking to Dave Ramsey Dan Miller who’s connected with Dave Bendit Dan’s place a couple of times and Dan’s offices meticulous. Perfect. And he says Steve this is truly my sanctuary. My office is kept this way because this is where I love to be and I want to feel good about where I love. And so he is he’s that way. His place is spotless and he’s like I don’t leave until it is and it just creates a different environment so it brings you into a pretty good place when you’re going you know the other thing is Torin you’re buying a lot of stuff dude so you can get that out of your system. The need to buy pretty quickly in our world right.
Speaker 11: [00:28:09] Oh yeah. I mean shopping is a ton of fun but I want to keep any of it for myself. I walk out the door and I want the money that comes the profit that comes with it.
Stephen: [00:28:19] You look at it and you’re like I bought that I could sell that. I’m not. Yes. You know what. I’m not going to you know my wife looks that she’s always like look going through the warehouse I’m like No no that’s for sale now that’s for sale. That’s right.
Taurin: [00:28:30] She’s always picking through it I’m like No no no we don’t want that 15 of this particular toy. I’m not going to shout it out during Q4 but and my wife saw him come in and she says one of those is for the baby. I’m like Well yeah but if I sell it for the price I want to sell it at 75 bucks. Now one of them’s for the baby.
Speaker 12: [00:28:51] Oh baby what now you got a letter.
Stephen: [00:28:55] You got a letter right.
Stephen: [00:28:58] What does she feel about now. So she came from a place where borrowing money was OK or at least that’s the way she was brought up not her fault but that’s the way it was. Did she get on board with Dave Ramsey plan is she. Did she see the light or does it still you know and maybe this too does she receive pressure from her family to kind of affect that.
Speaker 11: [00:29:25] I think I think since we paid off the debt I’m I’m more on drinking Dave’s kool aid than she is.
Taurin: [00:29:38] I think since we’ve paid off the debt she wants to she wants to rest a little bit and enjoy life and I so I have this rabid intensity I just want to pay off the house in the next four to five years and be at that level where I feel like I can breathe.
Stephen: [00:29:51] That’s freedom. That’s ultimate freedom correct right. I mean what do you need to you to need your payroll tax or your property taxes your insurance health insurance and food.
Stephen: [00:30:02] And it’s about it to live right. I mean I’m saying to you to live well but you can live. If the not if the zombie apocalypse happened but if the market corrects which is like you said it’s going to do at some point you could survive right 100 percent.
Taurin: [00:30:18] I mean she’s working right now. I’d love for her to come home. Maybe she doesn’t have to be but I mean I look at the numbers and I say you know Victoria we could honesty. We we’re closing on this house on Monday. It’s our first home and got a modest home because obviously of who I am. And so we could we could we could have this place paid off in three to five years realistically and just try and close your eyes and visualize that for a second. But I talk about it she gets stressed out just just at the thought of doing that.
Stephen: [00:31:00] So we’ll see. But it’s really hard because keeping up with the Joneses creeps into your life. I mean I don’t care you go over somebody else’s house. It happens to us every time we go over and we see something moist like you know maybe we should have that and I’m like what happened to make me happy. All right does that make you happy. I’ll say that there were you know trying to throw back in her face. But it’s true. You start you almost you start to care. You know it starts to drag you in. How about this. You just got a loan to buy a house and I don’t think I’ve had anybody talk about this and I think it’s interesting. So here you are as an e-commerce seller you’re unemployed Toren you’re officially unemployed. How did that go with the bank.
Speaker 11: [00:31:43] It was a little more difficult. But so I’ve only been selling for three years.
Taurin: [00:31:51] And so the first year I did well last year I did a little less than half of what I did this year and the year prior to that I did about a quarter of what I did last year. So you know they want to see the two years prior which are pretty dismal compared to the year this year where my private label products are established. You know I’ve built up a bankroll I’m doing alright so without my wife’s income I don’t think I would have been approved. The good thing is I’ve excellent credit and that helps. But they really wanted to see a lot of proof of the business and what it was I did and they want to see bank statement and they want to see they feel like they kept asking every week for more more information on the business. But at the end of the day we were approved and I think that helped that you know we got a modest house compared to what we could probably afford.
Stephen: [00:32:56] And I think that’s a smart move again especially if you are establishing yourself you know when you’re getting started. This allows you once you prove that you’ve done this and you pay this and then eventually you could do it again if you wanted to upsize. And my advice to you is don’t you know here’s one thing we had this conversation recently. Well there were three kids in my house and we had two boys in a bedroom and I think my sister had her own room right. But it was small.
Speaker 13: [00:33:22] You know one bathroom for five people. I mean that’s normal. Back when I was a kid right then my kids grow up and they grow up and they all have their own better. Matter of fact I even have a spare Betterman upon that and they all have their own bathroom and that perspective that they have is lost right. They don’t understand that you can go another way. And so if you can live through it because your kids aren’t with you that long really. Because at some point they’re not going to want to hang with you. Get ready for that. I mean it’s going to happen and you know they’re going to say Dad you’re not cool. I’m going out with my friends.
Stephen: [00:33:53] And then you don’t see them for a couple of years if you have a boy. Girls will creep into his life. And if it’s a girl boys will creep in and then they’re gone. And so if you could get through that those few years in a smaller environment where you’re closer together where you kind of have to spend time together I think that’s another place that a lot of people need to think about rather than spreading out into these big mansions is to go back because the family gets disconnected I guess and it really considered the family dynamic of a larger home where they grew up in their own world. I
Stephen: [00:34:29] mean think about it right. You go off in your room and you get your own TV your or your kids are in their world. And I mean it’s just no time together. So any deep thoughts there. OK let’s talk e-commerce right because it’s people who call it and listen and they’re saying hey what are we doing. So talk about what other options you had.
Stephen: [00:34:50] Right. So you’re working for this company the company. You know pluses and minuses like anything else it’s a four letter word work. They didn’t treat you as well as you felt like they should have. What else were you considering doing. I mean was it just this Amazon business or did you think about going to work in another job and keeping this as a side hustle.
Speaker 11: [00:35:14] Yeah I looked at other jobs. I just I didn’t really see anything that I could really be passionate about it so that’s what it is for you it’s the passion.
Stephen: [00:35:26] Not freedom.
Taurin: [00:35:28] Yeah to some extent you have to be. Because if I get I get bored easily and I used to see this kind of as a curse. But on the other end of that spectrum. Yes I get bored easily but the things that I am interested in I give them a lot of concentration. I’m constantly thinking about them I’m like I said I’m a rabid consumer of information. I want to know everything I can about them. And so that allows me to whatever I’m interested at the moment I can excel at it.
Stephen: [00:35:59] So that’s a skill set. Now
Taurin: [00:36:02] I think so. I mean it’s not it’s not very beneficial in a career environment where I’m expected to do the same thing for 40 years. But that’s not me and that’s fine you know.
Stephen: [00:36:16] It’s smart. I think what you’re describing that you recognize that is a skill set rather than a challenge because in a non creative environment that was a challenge. You’re a rebel. You’re not happy. Right. You know we need you to stay in the mold like you said do it for 30 or 40 years. So in a work environment you’re you’re a caged animal wanting to be released.
Speaker 11: [00:36:39] And I wouldn’t I wouldn’t last because I wouldn’t be effective at the job and it wouldn’t be good for them or good for me.
Stephen: [00:36:44] You know do you think that working for any company I don’t know if you worked for other companies besides this one. Do you think that that’s true for you anywhere. And this place just accentuated it because they started treating you different.
Taurin: [00:37:00] No I mean I wasn’t really I was treated well. It was just there was a neglect on the business as a whole from the owners. And and it just seemed like the owner wasn’t really into it anymore. He wanted to do his own thing and had grown complacent.
Speaker 12: [00:37:21] But that’s correct to neglect. It is. It is.
Taurin: [00:37:25] And it’s an indirect neglect. And I mean we’re friends so you know it’s it’s hard for me to say that. But yeah I guess it is the thing about that job was I was my official title was operations manager. But that gave me I pretty much you know I could have my hands in any facet of the business that I and there were a lot.
Speaker 11: [00:37:54] What did you gravitate towards. I would bounce around honestly if I would whatever I wanted to do at the time.
Stephen: [00:38:05] Because then you get disinterested. I mean is that what happened. Yeah
Stephen: [00:38:08] pretty much. Bahima jumped to something else. OK.
Taurin: [00:38:10] Yeah. I would move around. The one thing that I didn’t really get into there was actually resiling like we had an eBay site and we sold a bid on Amazon and I didn’t really want to do it. And I think it’s because it wasn’t mine. It’s it’s different when it’s yours. You know when you’re driven by your own success and making your own money versus doing it for somebody else it’s kind of it was competitive for you. I
Stephen: [00:38:37] mean did you think about it like they sold the thousand dollars and the like. I sold a thousand dollars today and they said that in a month right to me it was it was a little bit of competition for you.
Speaker 14: [00:38:48] Yeah we me and the sales guy I would kind of go back and forth sometimes smelts drive you.
Stephen: [00:38:56] That’s cool. It did. Yeah it is fun.
Stephen: [00:39:00] How about this operations job. Does it give you the skills at least skill sets to do your e-commerce business.
Stephen: [00:39:10] As you’re handling multiple things like you said you had your hand in everything. Did you pick up skill sets that you’re able to use in your e-commerce business.
Taurin: [00:39:21] I probably did but I don’t know if I could put my finger on many of them. We had a lot of Post employees and I I don’t really want any employees. I’m totally content working by myself which is a surprise. I thought I would be lonely but you know I’ve got friends obviously on Facebook and stuff and we talk all day and it feels kind of like there right next to you. You don’t really suffer from that loneliness when you’re actively speaking to people all day who are doing the same thing whether it’s online or comparison I feel like. So yeah I don’t have a real desire to manage any employees or anything like that. As long as I don’t have to.
Stephen: [00:40:05] But did you help did you help lead others and find better ways to do processes and things like that. You know I don’t know maybe back to you Reby guide or whatever they were selling. Did you work on those processes and helped make decisions and help them be better.
Stephen: [00:40:20] Therefore if so you reinforced what you knew or you know developed hey this worked. This didn’t work so that’s kind of like back to education. I mean it’s kind of like an education. That’s one of the benefits of working for someone and having as much influence as you do that’s a benefit.
Taurin: [00:40:41] Yeah for sure. So so my last month or two there I was asked to kind of overtake the eBay store because it needed a lot of work and I redesigned a lot of the flow in the process and everything from our picture station to the way with us products and the flow of materials. And who’s responsible for what and setting some goals and yeah it was fun but I guess that to teach me a lot. Like
Stephen: [00:41:16] I said I don’t know anybody it’s similar similar but you’re in that world and see for me I just sit back and I say you know you got paid and you fine tune your honed your skills.
Stephen: [00:41:29] That’s not bad. I mean it’s rather than you going to pay for an education you got paid to get an education. That’s not a bad thing. However you had to pay your dues and paying your dues is working for a company who’s clearly not interested in working for their own company anymore. So those things that disillusionment that they have transfers to the staff always does 100 percent right.
Stephen: [00:41:49] They can they can feel it’s palpable right. But I just hope people hear that you had to be willing to pay your dues to get to this place. Would you think be honest. Do you think you could be as successful as you are had you not worked there and gone through the pain as quickly.
Speaker 14: [00:42:06] Could you be as successful as quickly as your. No. Well I mean the the the easiest way to answer that is no because without the income I wouldn’t be able to scale up as quickly as I did.
Taurin: [00:42:23] But as far as skills are concerned I wouldn’t say too too much that I did. There translates over. Honestly at the same time that could be made just being blind to naive in thinking that I did it on my own.
Stephen: [00:42:40] But who knows what really drove me though as it was getting out of debt and then that that’s what kept me you know chugging along the whole time in that carrot in front of you is because that’s the ultimate thing right that having that freedom that noose around your neck go on was huge right. What drives you now what keeps you going now. So that that piece has passed you. You’re talking maybe paying off the house or what have you but what is the thing that gets you up in the morning early and makes you stay an hour later and give it that extra effort. What
Taurin: [00:43:14] is it. I would say it is you know eventually paying off the house in a really short period of time. I will set goals for myself I’m very goal driven and I just enjoy. I might not enjoy it forever but I enjoy what I do. So for the past year or so I’ve been 100 percent private label apart from fourth quarter. Now I mean that’s pretty much pretty hands off I don’t even see that inventory but to fill my days. I’ve been doing a lot of online arbitrage and I really like that I enjoy treasure hunting and analyzing data and finding these diamonds in the rough. So it’s fun for me. I get excited about Monday for the first time in my life. You know Sunday night everybody’s bumming out. And I used to be too. Now I can’t wait to start my day on Monday and start scanning.
Taurin: [00:44:08] Fire up the computer and you know make some money. So I mean liking what I’m doing is motivating. But like I said I’ll set goals for myself so I am a frugal obviously making decent money. I drive an 18 year old Honda Accord. And I love cars. And I would like to have a nice car for the first time in a while. So I’ve set a goal where I want to make what I would make with my private label money and on top of that what I would have made if I stayed at my job and on top of that basically twice whatever the car costs because that will pay for the taxes and my tides and everything and then I’ll be able to pay for the car without really interrupting the flow that I’m planning on with the money that I expect to make. And so that’s that’s a little something that keeps me driven to.
Stephen: [00:45:12] Well I think you know thinking back to my corporate life we used to do capital plans we used to do one year three year five year 10 year and 20 year believe it or not we get that far out and it kind of gave it was basically the same premise that you know hey we’re going to buy a piece of equipment and we know it’s going to be you know three million bucks. And so you know it’s just kind of that plan knowing that in the future that’s going to be the cost. So from a casual point of view you were able to project way out there and it sounds very similar to what you’re doing now. You weren’t able to do that so much when you were new to the business. Maybe you did. How quickly have you been able to start planning that. Well I mean obviously paying off the debt that maybe maybe this is a stupid question because it sounds like you started right from day one.
Taurin: [00:46:04] No I well what happened was the the person who gives us that financial peace university kit she worked in Boston and she knew that I was in electronics recycling and I asked resale and she approached me and said that her company had a lot of equipment that she wanted to clean out. And I said Okay well just call me on Monday and I will send a truck and have a crew come in and get it. She said no I want you to have it and I want you to resell it for yourself to pay towards your debt. So that was awesome. So I went in and she had some good stuff and I ended up with a little over a thousand dollars I sold it on eBay. And you know I have this money in PayPal and I looked at my wife and I said we can put this towards the loans or we can just try and roll it over into more inventory.
Taurin: [00:47:01] And she agreed she said Go for it. And I didn’t really have any knowledge of where I was going to get this inventory. But on the way home I just stopped at a saver’s one day and I started painstakingly going through everything on the shelf looking it up on my phone and then consuming YouTube videos greenroom hangouts. You know the bar fight serves the rake and those guys. And I started buying and then I think within a couple of weeks I was on Amazon. I learned really quickly that if I wanted to make money fast it was Amazon was the place. So I think I sent in my first box. I’ll never forget it. The ridiculous things that I never thought would sell. And while I slept the first box checked in and I woke up I turned over I looked at my phone and had a sale for twenty eight dollars for a pack of type of VHS tapes.
Speaker 12: [00:48:06] Like you get oh my God. Nobody would buy that right.
Taurin: [00:48:09] Yeah right off to the races. You know I was psyched. So from then on we just kept as much of the money in the business as possible. The first year after Q4 I think we put a chunk towards loans. But other than that I just kept rolling it over rolling it over and trying to spend as much. So
Stephen: [00:48:29] it wasn’t planned. I mean it was only planned for that. Not not towards a goal.
Stephen: [00:48:34] Right. Is what you described when you started right it was to keep the thing going. Like you said you put a chunk towards a debt but you stayed focus on growing. Yeah Ill build.
Taurin: [00:48:45] And then once my wife got pregnant I wanted to have the debt paid. OK. By the time my daughter was born we saved the money. We kept it in the account until she was born to make sure if there were any complications or anything we’d have the cash to pay for it. But luckily she’s born healthy. Everything’s good and we’ve paid everything off in May.
Speaker 13: [00:49:11] Wow. Well that’s a big accomplishment dude. It’s so cool that that intentional each time is like depending on what it was that big life event changed things for you right all of a sudden it’s like OK growth growth growth at all costs. No no no security. OK. Now that you’re there OK now you’re really secure. Now you’re in this mode of okay growth. However I got another goal. And so it sounds like now that you’re building goals on top of plans and I think that that’s a very smart way to run your business because things could change. And if things changed outside of your control which they will the car could go away correct for sure.
Stephen: [00:49:52] All right.
Speaker 13: [00:49:53] But that’s what’s so cool the way you’re doing it. Smart very smart when you think about where you’re going right so you got a good private label business. You know there’s a lifespan to private label products.
Stephen: [00:50:06] So you’ve got to bring new ones in and you’ve got your learning skills and that’s why I always tell people is that you bring your first product that doesn’t go so well generally then and there are outliers that have home runs of course. However there are problems and then you fix them and it gets better and better and better over time. How many how many products are you managing right now free private label.
Speaker 14: [00:50:31] I’ve got four currently active across several variations of it.
Stephen: [00:50:36] But OK. So you get so you got multiple versions. So however the fourth one was easier than the first one. Correct.
Stephen: [00:50:44] Koya right. So when you think about where you’re going. Is it 40. Is it four.
Speaker 11: [00:50:53] What would you say. Well so I assume we’re in the middle. I
Taurin: [00:51:00] mean I don’t I don’t I’m not thrilled about my current offerings because probably 90 percent of my revenue comes from two products and two products on one platform. Stephen
Stephen: [00:51:11] that’s not a very safe play area plays debate right. Sure.
Taurin: [00:51:16] So I think I did a good job with them I thought a little outside the box. I found some things that required some work and that weren’t customizable from the manufacturer. And I thought that. That would kind of turn most people off. I did a lot of the work by myself in the beginning packaging and labeling and all that but when Arria my daughter was going to be born I knew that I had to outsource that so I found a kitting company in the area and they handle it all now which is I should have a long long time ago.
Stephen: [00:51:54] So let me stop you there so I can go back to your examples so you found a product that was the manufacturer was not willing or couldn’t modify that was it. They are making new molds or whatever it is let’s say it’s Steese glass. And so you then say this glass would be a lot better if it a handle and this guy’s not going to put a handle on therefore nobody’s going to put a handle on it. If I put a hand on it now I’ve got the I’ve got the item right. And so you bring it in and somebody else puts a handle on it or whatever it is. Right. That’s the example right.
Taurin: [00:52:24] And somebody else was actually doing it. But they they had an e-commerce site and they were selling there and they were selling on Amazon but they were doing a really poor job on Amazon so the product was selling OK. But it was only merchant fulfilled and de-listing was garbage and the pictures are all taken in-house. And so I knew that I could you know I could offer it to prime customers FBA. I could take better pictures I could write a better listing and I did. And it took off.
Stephen: [00:53:01] About the second one was that a similar. I mean is this now a pattern that you build you look for. You know that model and replicate Pretty much yeah.
Taurin: [00:53:10] And now I mean staying within that niche. I’m willing to. I like the idea of broadening the brand to products with less or are alive because they cross promote each other. And so even if even if I’m only making a couple of dollars on one products it’s playing people in the direction of my more profitable products. So that’s the plan to continue that. But yeah I mean with four with four products and a few variations I’d like to broaden that a lot not to 40 I don’t think I’d want to manage 40 products but maybe I don’t know.
Stephen: [00:53:50] What do you tell your friends come in. What advice do you give people hey you know goatskin stuff in your house and sell that for years to learn all the you know how the inner workings work but then go full force into wholesale or private label or you know because you and I both know people that are doing millions and millions and millions to NRA and Owais and that kind of thing.
Stephen: [00:54:12] And they’re very content for now for now and they’ll say We understand there’s a lifespan but while there’s a lifespan and it’s this good I’m staying in it because there are outliers. What’s your advice.
Stephen: [00:54:27] Advice to people coming in labeling or selling on Amazon.
Stephen: [00:54:34] I think I would start there and then you know which direction are you steering people because they must be asking you.
Taurin: [00:54:39] Yeah I mean I the first year or so I think I just did drifting and garage sales because I didn’t want to risk any of my family’s money on a higher dollar items. I did a little bit of vari but I was really comfortable with what I was buying. So I try and sent people in that direction I tell them you know whatever is in your house start out there whatever you know about if you’ve got some product knowledge and there’s not many people I talked to about it anymore though because I’ve found that 90 percent of people aren’t willing to put in the work. They’ll
Speaker 12: [00:55:17] go down the aisle. Yeah yeah. At
Taurin: [00:55:20] least they’ll scan a few products down half an hour and they’ll be spent.
Stephen: [00:55:24] And this is hard. This is possible. I’m gated in everything and I can’t be successful.
Taurin: [00:55:31] Right. My father in law recently started selling now and he’s he’s doing great. And he was a little discouraged in the beginning but he’s he’s really picking up steam and it’s cool to see somebody now actually do it and make it work. That said I can’t find many people who are sincerely want to put in the work. They see the the money or whatever and they’re enticed but that’s about the extent of it.
Stephen: [00:55:58] It happens to me all the time people like Steve teach me what you do. I’m the wrong guy. I can’t teach you I can’t teach you anything. Go buy Chris’s book. And I think it’s free now or go do something learn that. So a few things and then come back when you’re ready. And then I’ll help you 100 percent. I mean I’ll give you everything I got. Do you. I did an interview not that long ago with a son in law and a father in law and their relationship. They’re like friends because they have such a calm and not only do they have his wife and his daughter in common they now have this passion for this crazy business and they love it and they’re like friends. Has it changed the relationship with your father in law.
Taurin: [00:56:44] Oh yeah for sure. I mean because you don’t have anybody in your personal life who you can talk to about it who’s got a sickness like you do. I
Stephen: [00:56:51] mean is this is your mother in law and your wife roll their eyes when you guys have Thanksgiving dinner and it’s like oh God here they go.
Speaker 14: [00:56:59] Absolutely. I mean he was here last night. He’s supposed to be putting some recessed lighting and my mother in law so I don’t know if I said that but my mother in I was like listen when he comes over you need to leave. She’s half kidding but she’s like he doesn’t get anything done if you’re here. All you guys do is talk.
Stephen: [00:57:20] So that’s a good thing too. That’s a good thing. That relationship that depth that love I’m getting ready to give a sermon this coming week. That tent actually. And so it’s about faith hope and love and that relationship that depth of relationship man that is that’s the source of life right there.
Taurin: [00:57:39] Yeah it’s it’s very cool. Very very cool.
Stephen: [00:57:43] None of your friends have that relationship doing their wandering through life. So looking back you know clearly you made some right decisions but this was hard right. I mean like you said you’re walking away from a really good job that you could have coasted for a long time. Correct
Stephen: [00:58:02] . For sure. Yeah. It wasn’t enough was it.
Taurin: [00:58:08] No well I thought about you know my my commute there and the number of hours I spent there. And my mood and attitude while I was there and I mean it wasn’t it. It’s gotten to the point where I wasn’t propelling forward or developing any further. I had gotten everything out of the to the place that I ever would. I could show up and do my job and collect a paycheck. But you know why. Could
Stephen: [00:58:37] you could you do your job really. I mean because you got so good at it you can knock it out in a one or two hours and then coast the rest of the day. Did you get to that place. No
Taurin: [00:58:47] there was always there was always more to be done. It was. We were busy. But in my role like I said it was very loosely defined so I could you know I could kind of put my hands into whatever I felt like. But it just I just it’s the whole attitude. It’s a top down thing I’m sure you’ve seen it before when when when the owners of the whoever’s in charge is not into the business or they’re not present either you know mentally or physically. Nobody has any real hope for the future and it’s just it was just a dark dark place to be. And it still is. I talked to my co-workers and it sucks but they didn’t. They didn’t have the same opportunity I did to just leave and do their own thing. So we’ve been blessed for sure.
Stephen: [00:59:37] But complacency creeps in and it’s a dangerous thing. So. So. When you stayed for three years with an Amazon business would do you think you stayed too long or was that the right number for you. Looking
Stephen: [00:59:53] back could you have gone a little bit sooner should you have gone maybe that’s the better question Should you have gone a little bit sooner or because you had those milestones you wanted to knock them out. You wanted to make sure your families especially with the baby you want to make sure you’re covered. Was that the right time length for you.
Taurin: [01:00:09] I think so. I mean like I could have left I could’ve left sooner and if I mean if I told all the details of the story. Anyone
Speaker 12: [01:00:17] would say you should have got to get out because you it ruins your soul.
Stephen: [01:00:23] So thinking about people that are thinking about it because I see this question a lot how in those groups.
Stephen: [01:00:28] Hey Toren you know I just kill that man. I had my first 10000 or month. Should I quit full time. Can I make six figures to in this job hunt. I’m always like no no no you can’t. Don’t get it in your head that you will maybe someday. But don’t get it in your head you will work towards that. What do you think that people should do.
Taurin: [01:00:50] Just take your time be established. Sorry him draw a plaque.
Stephen: [01:01:01] Well I mean because think about it. You know I don’t want to give the advice to somebody hey we all know lots of people making six figures but we know lots of people not making six figures right what makes one successful versus the other. There’s about 500 things that that’s the difference right. And so you want to be very cautious given this advice. But my answer is always you know get to that place where you’re making more money in your side hustle than your regular job consistently and in your case. And in my case it’s paid for cash with everything then you’re in a position to be able to take chances and things like that. But until then managers write it out as long as you can and put your effort and energy rather than watching TV into the side business.
Taurin: [01:01:45] Yeah I mean it starts with knowing you know knowing your expenses knowing what’s coming in and what’s going on. And a lot of people don’t even know that. But I would I would set those goals too. I wanted to leave a while ago and I would say OK you know once I’m making what I’m making at my job then I’ll be all right to leave and then I hit that and I out and I’m like once I’m making you know twice what my salary as well and then I’ll be ready to leave. And I know I hit that night still it was still really hard for me I think it depends on the type of person you are I’m really risk averse like I said. So I didn’t I didn’t want to add that risk to my life. Some people are more willing to sort of jump and it can work or it can hit her.
Stephen: [01:02:31] But what is the reason you stayed in your job longer is because you hit that mental shift in your head like I’ve got this now because you doubled your income or whatever. There’s
Stephen: [01:02:42] a point when you go to work and instead of having this dread to go to work it’s like I’m lucky that I get to go to work and have this huge business on the side because it helped finance time wise this side business. So to me I think there’s a point when your mind changes and I think that’s the point when you leave when you get to that place when your mind says I got this.
Taurin: [01:03:08] Yeah. It took a while for me to get there. And I think having the private label stuff that really helps because it’s not as Hands-On absolutely as online arbitrageur retail overtures. That’s a job. No. No mistake about it. That’s that’s a job. And yeah it took a while to get there. And people people you know look at me and they’re like wow you’re so lucky to have what you have and that yeah we’re I don’t say lucky or blessed but it took three years. You
Stephen: [01:03:44] know it’s not like that’s not luck then overnight.
Stephen: [01:03:48] Well you know it’s not like I always tell my dad Miller’s story. I want to tell it again. But but it’s not luck when you’re intentional for that long. How many people are willing to put in three years all those extra hours. How many things did you miss. How many TV shows did you miss right. How many times did you get up early you did all those things to be successful. And that’s lucky. No chance. That’s intentional.
Taurin: [01:04:10] Yeah. I mean of course every every business there’s a bit of luck being at the right time all that but but overall no.
Stephen: [01:04:19] OK so. So we’ve gone through we beat you to death over your history it sounds like you’ve really figured out a whole bunch of very very cool things. Help somebody else get past that point of stuff because there had to be a point when you were thinking I’m going to be stuck in this job forever because this Amazon thing isn’t going as well as I want and then all of a sudden something changed. And I don’t know what it was that changed for you but you figured something out. Whatever it was you put the effort in. You went to a conference you learn more you develop relationships whatever it is help somebody else get past that point torn because there there are guys listening ladies listening and they’re like Man I want to be him in three years. I could leave my job and have an incredible significant business more than any business downtown right. You have more revenue than and I can have that in three years. But it’s going to take something. What’s that for you.
Taurin: [01:05:16] I think honestly it’s just knowing yourself. So this takes awhile and it takes a lot of reflection background jobs and careers and things that interest interest you but you need to stop and take a taking inventory of what gets your blood pumping and what doesn’t cause. So I see this all the time. And for me it looks like this right. I can look at Greg Morris or my my buddy Jamison. I talked to Jamie every day. He’s more of my best friends and I can see the huge numbers they’re putting up doing retail ARB and I can run towards that. But I know myself I know that when I go out there and scan barcodes after barcode in the store it just sucks the energy right out of me. It’s exhausting. There was a time where I did it because I had to.
Taurin: [01:06:03] And it was fun but it gets old quick. Yeah yeah it really does. But I know you’ve gone out with Jamie right. He he’s an animal in the stores and he’ll go 12 18 hours he doesn’t care. Fires him up and that’s his thing. He he just wants to shop. He loves it and that’s great. Same thing with Craig he’ll shop straight throughout the night and you know then you’ve got Mirch you’ve got. You know Glenn Zubia hustler hacks he’s killing it with Mark. He’s a graphics guy. That’s his thing he loves. He’s good at it. The thought of building a portfolio of 10000 T-shirt designs to me is exhausting to even think about. That’s not for me. On the other hand like I said I’m psyched about Monday mornings the first time in my life I want to go fire up the computer start scanning sales and find that diamond in the rough.
Taurin: [01:06:54] I want to analyze the keepit data look into all that. That’s what gets my blood pumping and that’s what you know it keeps me focused throughout the day because I like it. I see so many people and all the groups who you know they’ll go they’ll see somebody doing well with Mirch and so they want to do Mirch and then they’ll see somebody writing ebooks and they’ll try ebooks and you’ll have their hands in a little bit of everything but without ever focusing on one particular avenue.
Stephen: [01:07:24] What’s the clues so. So I mean there’s always that phrase success leaves clues because what you’re saying makes perfect sense but it’s like Toren I don’t know. I don’t know what I want to do right. Have you heard that right. I don’t know what I’m interested in and I just I haven’t figured it out yet.
Taurin: [01:07:40] Yeah I didn’t either. I guess it just it does take some trial so maybe you do try that stuff but I know that my major skill set and what I like to do what I enjoy and in all aspects of life is analyzing data and research. And I think that’s why I excel at the online arbitrage and the private label to enjoy those because it’s a lot of sitting at the computer analyzing data and doing research. And I mean I can see that through school hobbies everything in my life. That’s what I’ve always liked to do. And that’s where it’s best utilized.
Stephen: [01:08:21] And so this fits right in for you at this point of your life. This fits right in especially with a young family. So this gives you the ability to be involved.
Stephen: [01:08:32] Is that fair or are you involved in your daughter. No
Taurin: [01:08:36] . You know I’m not. That’s one thing I struggle with. So time management organization. The biggest struggle for me right now is I’m freshly full time. So the better part of the last year I’ve just been private label and I decide to leave my job and to fill my time. I’m doing online our packaging shipments again but without my systems in place and pretty rusty during the busiest time of the year. So I’m struggling with that work life balance right now. Honestly it’s tough.
Stephen: [01:09:15] What happens if you pull back. I mean just think about this for a second. I understand you get nervous. You know you got the you know I mean but here you go. You got a year’s worth and I’m not saying rest on their laurels or what have you but man your relationship is everything right. I mean to me. You know especially at this point in my life looking back that love and that relationship is the most important thing.
Speaker 13: [01:09:39] So man you know you don’t want to miss this because having two boys who are grown up now have grandkids and watching them all of a sudden my youngest or my oldest granddaughters five years older I’m like oh my god we’re this time go you know and so you want to be cautious.
Stephen: [01:09:55] I’m not preaching to you. I’m just saying you know the fact that you’re mindful of it that’s enough because you’re mindful of it.
Taurin: [01:10:02] So like I said we’re we’re closing on the House on Monday and we are you know it’s holiday season the way I looked at it was Q4 comes but once a year and I want to get you know I want to get some inventory and I want to at least make up the difference between my job and that salary that I lost. I would like to get it back doing stuff on the side online arbitrage whatever on top of my private label. So I wanted to get enough inventory and that I could take the month of December off do the move. Spend time with the family and experience the holidays like they’re meant to be experienced stress and work and whatnot. So I sent my last shipment in last week.
Stephen: [01:10:52] OK. So you’re there now. OK. Yeah. All right good. You know I mean again you’re goal oriented right. So you set a goal. You
Stephen: [01:10:59] hit it and now you got to. Now you got to be. This is the hard part for me turning it off sometimes. My wife says sometimes you’ve got to stop. You’ve got to turn it off. So you know it will be interesting to see if you can now. It’s easy when you can when you have a big job right because you didn’t have to worry about getting paid when you’re on vacation. Now you kind of have to worry a little bit just a little bit. So it’s different. It will be interesting to see where you’re at mentally.
Taurin: [01:11:26] It’s a big struggle for me for sure. And I can see I’ll start I’ll feel like I’ll just start finding my rhythm and I’m really cranky and then I look at the clock and it’s time to pick up my daughter from daycare. And for me that’s when I have to shut it off. You
Stephen: [01:11:40] know that’s the that’s the time tart Yeah it’s hard man and it’s hard for me and I’m a little before you leaving and it’s like oh we’re going to the gym at noon and I’m like oh man I got to stop I’m in the middle of this. I’m in my zone and it’s like oh I get a break free and go but you know what. My wife and I go together it’s a relationship thing and you know so. You’re inspiring me though. I hope I hope others are so inspired by you because again I’m not change your circumstance based on your changing your circumstance. Life isn’t happening to. Life is happening because of Toren and that’s a very cool thing. It’s a cool place to be. Again back to your friends. How many of them are just running in circles and they’re going to regret this. You know 20 years from now they’re going to be sitting there saying oh my god what did I do with these 20 years. Right. Inspiring.
Stephen: [01:12:34] All right. So if somebody has a follow up question want more information. What’s the best way they can follow up with you.
Taurin: [01:12:41] I guess Facebook I’m not really trying to develop a reputation or anything. I don’t have a youtube channel that I’m on Facebook they can OK.
Stephen: [01:12:51] And I’ll put a link there. OK. Dude I’m pumped for you. I’m excited. I love the fact that you invested in yourself and you went to the Rocky Mountain reseller conference which is an awesome conference it’s coming up again. They already announced the dates. Mazing place but you make relationships there that you can rely on. Right. And you could go back on the fact that you’re doing those things. It’s just so powerful to me. I wish you nothing but success man. Take care. Thanks man.
Stephen: [01:13:20] What a great guy. Great interview great story again. Be intentional about your life. I mean this is the kind of guy that you want to get to know reach out to him if you resonate with him if you can connect with him because ultimately that’s really what you need to do is to find other like minded people and become friendly with them you know give give give. Expect nothing and you’ll get tenfold back. That’s what I’m fortunate enough to do when I get to meet guys like this. And he’s such a great guy. So e-commerce momentum dot com. Don’t forget my sponsors don’t forget the Toys for Tots thing. I mean we’re only we’re close to Christmas. I mean we’re getting close. So many people in need. So please help help help. You know just send the receipt to JAF for send a copy to me whichever it is and I’ll take care of it. But man it’s just so exciting to see them hit their goal e-commerce momentum. Dotcom Take care. Thanks
Cool voice guy: [01:14:10] for listening to the e-commerce momentum as all the links mentioned today Jimmi found that e-commerce momentum come under the surface of numbers. Please remember to subscribe and the like us on iTunes.
